After The Man I Love debuted at Cannes this week, Rami Malek made comments about his initial hesitation to accept the role of Jimmy George, a gay theater artist in the 1980s diagnosed with AIDS. The character was originally intended for queer actor Ben Whishaw, who had to drop out due to another commitment. Though Malek is a talented actor, it is a shame that director Ira Sachs didn’t prioritize casting another queer actor in Whishaw’s place.
When the film screened at Cannes, Malek told reporters: “When I read the script, I said, ‘I can’t do this,’” noting too many similarities between Jimmy George and Freddie Mercury, the latter of whom Malek portrayed in Bohemian Rhapsody back in 2018, winning him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
“There was a certain sense of fear,” Malek said. “And I started to really think about what I was afraid of. Was it the similarities? Was it the singing? Was it obviously what was going on in the period? And the fear was, I knew I had to address the fear.”
Malek further reflected on his performance as Freddie Mercury, stating, “If there’s anything Freddie taught me, it was ‘address the fear.’ And when I raced into it, I started to discover that these were men that were similar, but they were also worlds apart . . . You have an icon, a legend in Freddie, who really had a destination, whereas Jimmy is just searching for creativity and love and intimacy and joy and pleasure in every moment.”
The film received an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes and initial reactions to the film have mostly been positive. However, this expression of “fear” from Malek comes across as somewhat tone-deaf, given the frequent backlash when straight actors play queer characters.
The majority of roles in Hollywood are already written for straight, cisgender men, so it’s frustrating to see Malek taking this role from a queer actor. It’s even more frustrating to see Malek admit that he was scared to play “another” gay character with AIDS, and how he feels the need to justify the decision, when a queer actor likely wouldn’t feel the need to address it all . . .
Although it is noteworthy that there is more queer representation in Hollywood (and at Cannes) in 2026, queer actors are not getting cast in lead roles. LGBTQ+ actors are out there, but as long as bigger names are prioritized for these roles, it remains extremely difficult for queer actors to break into the industry and make a name for themselves.
The Queerest 